Ella Fitzgerald News

Jazz label Concord Records, riding high with Ray Charles' last release, has sealed its acquisition of Fantasy Records, whose extensive holdings include the Creedence Clearwater Revival catalog.

Details of the purchase -- which includes Berkeley, Calif.-based Fantasy's huge library of masters, its studios and its publishing interests -- were not divulged. Sources say Beverly Hills-based Concord, which is owned by Act III Communications, a firm headed by TV producer Norman Lear and his partner Hal Gaba, outbid other suitors for Fantasy with an offer of more than $80 million.

The sale was agreed on in June, but Concord only finalized financing of the purchase this month.

"It's so exciting," Concord president Glen Barros said in an interview Monday. "It's a new chapter for us. It takes us to a completely different scale."

Fantasy, which was co-owned by film producer Saul Zaentz, boasts one of the last available storehouses of valuable independently held masters. Over the years it purchased the holdings of such top jazz, R&B and folk labels as Prestige, Milestone, Riverside, Contemporary, Debut, Pablo, Specialty, Stax, Takoma and Kicking Mule.

"This is something we've always dreamed about," Barros added. "It's a sensational, sensational catalog . . . a treasure chest of incredible recordings."

Founded in 1969 by the late Carl Jefferson, Concord owns its own catalog of 1,000 jazz and pop vocal titles. It has enjoyed a major hit this year with Charles' duets album "Genius Loves Company," which has sold nearly 1.2 million to date, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Barros said that Concord and Fantasy will consolidate over time, but will "in all likelihood be based in both Berkeley and L.A."

With the completion of the deal, Fantasy's releases, previously distributed independently, will move to Universal, which started handling Concord product this year.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter